This Lexus Cardholder Wallet Repurposes Carbon Fiber From the LFA Supercar
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As Lexus wrapped up production of the $375,000 LFA sports car in 2012, observers wondered what it planned to do with the elaborate carbon fiber production facility that parent company Toyota had built specifically to serve the V-10-powered coupe. The answer, some three years later, is apparently make a backpack, a business card case, a key case, and a coin purse. That’s what we get from Lexus Japan’s 2016 Spring-Summer accessories collection, which touts those doodads as being constructed from the same carbon fiber used in the LFA, but rendered soft to the touch through a materials collaboration with Japanese company Hide 1896.
The feature item is a backpack that costs ¥150,000. Since at current exchange rates that clears about $1,300, you might want to get your name embroidered on the Berubaio artificial leather trim so everyone knows who rocks the “realistic soft carbon” carryall. Lexus will happily oblige for the curious price of ¥153,000—in other words, having your name signed on your pack will cost you more than the pack itself. (In other words: time to bust out the $29 Brother label maker.)
The business card holder runs ¥26,600 (about $234), the coin purse ¥19,300 (about $170), and the key holder is ¥16,800 (about $147). These prices might seem preposterous as well, but this use of LFA leather is a big deal; when Lexus partnered with Tumi on a custom carbon fiber luggage set for its first super sports car, it didn’t use the handmade Japanese stuff. All the items get the same Berubaio artificial leather lining, and each can be had in either black, green, navy blue, brown, red, or pink.
If you like Lexus, but not that much, the 51-page catalog brims with other goods from the obvious golf apparel to the not-so-obvious “Maestro style” teddy bear, commanding ¥19,500 (about $172). At that price, that bear better do more than just snuggle…
